An Introduction To Kief And Six Ways To Put It To Good Use

While admiring your cannabis, you've probably noticed those beautiful, tiny little crystals that cover it. But did you know that what you're seeing is kief? In this blog, you will discover what kief is, how to collect it and its many uses.

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28 Jul 2017

While admiring your cannabis, you've probably noticed those beautiful, tiny little crystals that cover it. But did you know that what you're seeing is kief? In this blog, you will discover what kief is, how to collect it and its many uses.

WHAT IS KIEF?

In case you've never heard, kief is a concentrated form of cannabis. As a result of removing the trichomes from the cannabis flower, you wind up with kief. And as you may know, trichomes contain the highest concentration of cannabinoids in comparison to other parts of the plant. With that said, removing these resinous glands from the plant offers something much more powerful than the bud itself.

HOW TO COLLECT KIEF

For most pot smokers, they tend to use a grinder to collect their kief. When using a grinder, the top is removed and the bud is placed in between its teeth. Then, the top is replaced and with a few twists, the kief falls into the very bottom layer. However, if you wish to gather up larger amounts in a hurry, there are a few other tricks to do so, such as using dry ice. The downside - more nugs are required.

Although you'll need more pot for the dry ice method, it happens to be the easiest and most efficient way to extract kief. There are only two things you'll need to collect dry ice kief: bubble bags and a bucket. To begin, put a few ounces of dried clippings and leaves into a bubble bag extraction kit. Then, take roughly 500 grams of dry ice and add it to your collection of leaves inside the bucket. Once you've done that, grab a 220-micron bubble bag or any larger sized one and place it over the bucket, sort of like a condom. Next, give the bucket several shakes over a clean, flat surface. Turn it upside down and continue shaking until you can't possibly gather any more kief. Finally, scoop it up using an index card and enjoy!

THE MANY USES OF KIEF

Now that you know what kief is, in a nutshell, it's time to learn what you can do with it. For the most part, people smoke it, of course. But you certainly aren't limited to just throwing it in a pipe and calling it a day. From sprinkling it into a joint to cooking with it, here are 6 fantastic ways to use kief:

1. ADD IT TO YOUR PIPE

If you prefer to keep it simple with a pipe, then you aren't alone. In fact, tossing some kief into your bowl is one of the most popular ways to use smoke it. Most of the time, all you have to do is spark it once to enjoy it all the way through. Just be careful not to pack too much. It is quite potent, after all.

2. JUICE IT UP AND VAPORIZE

By turning your kief into e-cig juice, you can easily fill up your vaporizer and hit away. To do this, you'll need propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, which you can find pretty much anywhere online for a decent price. Also, you should grab a coffee filter, something to double boil with, and a few syringes. You can also add a splash of your favorite e-cig flavour as well, such as cotton candy or strawberry.

Typically, a 1:1 ratio of vegetable glycerin to propylene glycol is required. When you're ready, just add the mixture to the double boiler, then add your kief. Once it's all in, allow it to sit over the heat until it's melted and the consistency is smooth. Now is also the time to add the additional flavour of your choice. If you wish to do so, be sure to let it sit for a couple more minutes. Next, pour the ingredients into the coffee filter. Place a bowl or cup underneath so that you can filter out the remaining plant material. You never want to have any sort of plant matter in your e-cig juice.

Once the mixture has cooled, then all that's left to do is grab your syringe, fill it up, and dispense the liquid into your vape. Finally, take a puff and enjoy your homemade concoction!

3. SPRINKLE IT INTO A JOINT

While dusting a bit of kief into a joint is simple, it can also be quite messy. But if you want to go ahead and add some in, then just mix it with your bud beforehand so that the kief will fit nice and snug. The best way to do this is to sandwich the kief between the bud, then wrap it up in the paper.

4. PAIR IT WITH A DELICIOUS MEAL

Did you know that you can cook with kief? Not only does kief add twice as much flavour as buds, it also doesn't mess up the original flavour of your recipe. Another benefit to cooking with kief is that you use ½ to ⅓ less than you would if you used flower. To make a recipe more potent, you can mix the kief with your bud. And if you want to make cannabutter with it, you can do that too.

Very important, you always need to decarboxylate the kief before using it in cooking. Otherwise, you won't ingest any psychoactive THC. Believe it or not, raw cannabis plants only contain precursor cannabinoid THC-A (or acid). But with decarboxylation, THC-A turns into psychoactive THC. Not to worry, the process is quite simple. Just put your kief in an oven-proof dish and heat it for around 20 minutes at 121.111 degrees Celsius. Then, remove it from the oven and give it some time to cool off. Once it cools down, your kief is ready to be used for cooking.

5. TURN IT INTO HASH

It might not be the best quality, but you can certainly use kief to create hash. For starters, you'll need to get a piece of parchment paper and an iron. If you have a hair straightener, then that's even better. When you're ready, begin by folding the parchment paper. Then, place the kief inside and use your iron or straightener to press down onto it. Be sure not to spend too much time pushing, or else you'll wind up burning the paper. Once you've successfully made and collected your hash, you can now put it to good use.

6. PACK IT AND STORE IT

Do you have a lot of kief but aren't sure what to do with it all? If so, then you could always tuck it away for safe keeping with the help of pollen pressing containers. These small, metal containers screw on both sides and create pressure, allowing the kief to form into little-packed cupcakes. All it takes is about ¼ gram, but you can use a couple more grams as well. Just put the goods inside the pollen pressing container, make sure both ends are tightly secured, then unscrew and remove the insides to have a look at your perfectly packed kief.